Wednesday, November 30, 2011

My quibbles, 'Merger' with an etymology in the 1980s? I knew that was wrong and used historically with railroad companies over 100 years ago, so I looked it up. Huh. 1926 for common usage. I guess that was why I double noticed it in a short story written in 1930s. Detective fiction, naturally. Maybe merger only came to England's shores in the 80's

The same story used 'bozo'. I had thought that was based on the clown famous on television so it couldn't predate TV, so... 50's at the earliest? Nope, the clown predates TV in the 40s, and the word predates both back to the teens.

Well, the National Novel Writing month wasn't a complete bust for me, but I didn't hit 50,000 words. Close to half that, sadly.

Things I learned:

Major video game manufacturers release new stuff in November. Skyrim was no help at all.

It is really a novella. Comes from reading short stories of pulp detective novel for a couple months before November. The kernel of a story idea that jumped into a 1 page 20 bullet outline practically fully formed and started me on this madness by serendipity was really short form fiction.

It's not about finishing in 30 days. It's about writing with abandon with no internal editor and no deletions. Save that for rewrite. It's about getting a big chunk down. So you finish 50k in February or something, in my, and others', case. November gave you the impetus. Markos lamented on Twitter the other day about the author that opens a scifi novel on a faraway planet with a harvest festival chapter among the colonists and then spends 67 pages describing the menu of the feast. The problem isn't really the writing of those 67 pages, it's the publishing of the 67 pages when it should have been pared down to 167 words, in rewrite, methinks.

Big breaks in writing makes you lose the narrative a little bit. Write every day. Just like blogging. Even half an hour. I need to work on this. Easier without video games. August through October nothing was distracting me, why couldn't this month have been then?

Shoulda introduced the zombies sooner.

The flow is better than I expected, but a little off. The first chapter flew off my fingers and somehow was chockablock with sexual tension. Wasn't expecting THAT.

Planned pair of chapters can combine into one, sadly. Turning 20 chapters into 10. More of that short form 'disease'.

Keep plugging, it’s amazing what you think up while doing so.

Getting it all down in a stream is a good way to remember past details and not step all over them. Pausing and thinking out the problems of motivations and fleshing out details is good too, but they can slow you down and hurt the stream. Hard to find the middle road here for the pace of the rough draft.

Prewar and postwar detective pulp stories have a distinctive style and flair and differentiates. Mine is set prewar, but I am amalgamating or muddling with postwar.

At Chapter 10 already. But I feel there is another place this novel might take me for 10 more I hadn’t even considered yet. Holy crap I can see how these things can get a mind of their own.

I picture this, what I have, as a Rough Rough draft. It won't be ready to share until it is a Polished Rough draft, where I try to hit the typos, misspellings, tense shifts and what not. Then I'd wait a bit and come back to it later. Then a First Rewrite where you fill in the holes in the story. Then Second Rewrite where you cut unmercifully and align the pacing. Eventually a Final will come out.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

I bought the 10/22 for a possible Appleseed shoot months ago. Why not? It's dirt cheap. Three bills for the gun, a Tech-Sight peep sight, and a coupla 25 round Ruger factory mags. Ooo, and some sling swivels. I never intended to tart it up beyond that, desiring to keep the expenditure low.

But MBtGE prefers the M4gery style adjustable butt stocks on his numerous 10/22s and just gave me a folding Choate stock, so what the heck. Now my 10/22 is backpack size.

Here is one issue: The swivels I mounted on the original wooden stock, and the Choate's are narrower than full size .mil swivels. The only sling that fits it is a knock off .mil-standard leather job I have that is pretty tired, and even that is still pretty wide. I want to be able to sling up properly. What are my options for old school slings in a new school narrow offerings? Maybe an M1 Carbine style is narrower, but not having one in my hands to compare to... Plus I don't know if you can sling up with those. The ones you can sling up look either too slick or too wide. Anyone out there solve this problem?

If I give up on slinging up then the sling is pretty much just a way to tote the rifle and there are plenty of options out there for that.

The only disadvantage is a pretty tight fit in the mag well. It makes removing the empty, flush-mounted 10 round mags problematic. ﻿Not an issue with larger mags.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Apparently a customer at a Denny's didn't want to see what happened after the armed robbers got the cash out of the til. Maybe they didn't want to leave any witnesses, who knows?

I don't know if I approve that 'chasing after them into the parking lot, firing as he went' thing. That shouldn't be the instinct, and I think it is asking for trouble, but I wasn't there. And neither was the reporter, so who knows what really happened. Plus there is all the adrenalin going on when you exchange shots and the whole, "How DARE they try to rob my neighborhood restaurant. How DARE they shoot back at me trying to enjoy my Grand Slam brefass at 6AM." So I can understand the impulse, if the details are accurate, but can sit in my chair here, calm, and think of maybe a more perfect way to handle it all.

I do know that if CCW comes to Maryland, I shouldn't trust the authorities to treat the customer in this situation as well as the authorities in Texas probably will for this kind of situation, so that colors my judgement.

Right choice or not, the bad guys in this scenario did a poor job of victim selection and had a good scare to maybe make them reflect on their career choice.

Some spammer called 'name brand faucets' keeps hitting my old posts with comments and an add for an ammo. It's not the link I hate, it the not actually saying anything related to the post other than "Cool story bro! Here's a link that will get me paid."

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Don't RUN Hippies! This is an M1A. I'm not the best shot with a rifle, but I'm good enough. You'll only die tired! With a .308, when you get hit, you tend to fall down. And lie still.

Ok. It's not the World's Most Dangerous Game. And it's Berkely Springs West Virginia, not California . I'm gonna try to make it out there with MBtGE to a blog shoot on the 3rd. It's only about an hour or so from MBtGE's house, so... Easy Peasy. I'm thinking I'll bring the Appleseed 10/22 to it.

Update: I probably shouldn't joke about shooting hippies, since they tried to come off the endangered species list with the #OWS thing and all. But, like releasing the first group of endangered marmots into the wild, only to see a few hawks swoop down and carry off Stinky and Mister Fluffers, (the respective matriarch and patriarchs of the group), and then the remainder set upon each other in a lethal battle of dominance to fill the power vacuum, even the optimistic handlers faces fell in despair at the futility of their charges survival skills in the real world. They're just not able to make it in the real world, and it is someting to be pitied rather that guffawed at in Schadenfreude. What they thought was a Woodstock was more an Altamont.

Well, I am stuck at MBtGE's and out of pocket blog-wise. I thought I had 2 more posts queued up. I was wrong. So...

The only new firearm is his ancestral shotgun. It needa a lotta solvent and polishing to get it's innards all smooth. I showed MBtGE how to punch out a pin he would have found anyway, and he taught me how to field strip a double barrel shot gun. You grab the double barrel forend and pull 'back and down' assuming the gun is shouldered. But put it on the banch, I just described it that way to relate the relative position.

Friday, November 25, 2011

I know I haven't flown, purposefully, on 2 occasions in the past couple years because of the TSA overreach. Dump the TSA and the only thing I will consider is how cramped the damn seating is. THAT's a big enough worry for the airlines, right there, and may dissuade me on occasion. Yes, ticket price is less a concern for me. I'll pay extra fro the luxury of not jamming the knees on the seat in front of me and having more than 11 inches of seat width for my but to squeeze into. Airline flights have become the cross country bus trip of the 21st Century without the luxury and comfort.

Add the TSA tomfoolery and I'd rather walk to Florida. I get more angry at the government AND the airlines every day the current civil rights violating system remains in place. But the decision whether to fly is very easy at this point. The decision is 'never.'

Thursday, November 24, 2011

This story is making the rounds, but I first saw it here. Or was it here? Guy offs himself carrying a Glock in his waistband. Saving money on a holster leads to a bad end result.

I've encouraged many people to try, or take back up, pistol shooting, and some then go on to purchase a firearm and ask me for input on what to spend their chunk of change on. The first thing I tell someone is to buy a gun safe. Something that holds one of 2 pistols if that's all they are looking to get. Especially if there are kids on the house. These little locking metal boxes aren't proof against burglars or even completely childproof, but it IS a layer of protection. A barrier from quick access from idle hands.

I have, even before the Negligent Discharge linked to above, been also recommending folks get a holster. Preferably a decent one, but at least something. They inform me that this is Maryland and they never intend to CCW anyway. I tell them to get a holster anyway. Store the gun in the holster when you store it in the locking case. You never know when you might need to tote a pistol, even without a CCW, and that need might be time sensitive, precluding getting out to the holster store to buy one right then. And with the trigger guard covered in your gun safe your won't have a ND in there reaching for it that time you don't unload it.

I think I will emphasize the gunsafe AND holster purchase now and in the future. Every pistol of mine is loaded in the safe. Everyone but one is in a holster, too, or a seperate gun rug and unloaded. The two exceptions is the 686 revolver which lives alone in it's own gun safe with not holster, and the 640 snubbie that lives in just a holster in my pocket when I am home. No kids in my house, either, or more precautions would be made for the 640 while I sleep.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Conventional wisdom says Romney is the inevitible nominee. I'm not so sure, and won't be voting for him regardless, but let's assume he's it.

The good: He's more competent than the current guy. And Barry has had 4 years to practice. The only thing Barry has done right, that a Kleenex box also couldn't have done right, I'll concede, is this recent Asia Pacific Rim thingy. Oh sure, he flubbed some teleprompter lines, but that's immaterial to the foreign policy. (and: "Hey, Kleenex box? Should we take out Bin Laden?" "Ehhhhhh, ok." See, even a Kleenex box can make the call.) Mitt will do better at all the aspects of a Presidential day, methinks.

The bad: His policies are pretty much the same the current guy. OK, let's give Romney the benefit of the doubt again. He did those things because of the State he was governor of. Better to shape the issue than to bobble it and let it shape itself. Ride the liberal Massachusetts tiger because not riding it means it eats you. In charge of a more center-right country means his center right principles can come mroe to the fore. This concession is a big stretch for me. Plus it does nothing to assuage that this talented and effective gov't man won't try to solve the nations problems with gov't solutions, rather than reeling in the gov't that IS our problem of late. Or a big part of our problems.

I am concerned that he won't repeal Obamacare, but will merely radically transform it into Romneycare II, Electric Boogaloo. Just as bad, if not worse at its core.

Plus there will be a perfect storm of troubles in 2013 for whoever gets elected. Tax cuts inspiring, planned tax increases enacting...

But back to Romney. His record on the 2nd Amendment. JayG spits on his living room carpet every time someone mentions Romney and guns. It's a big put off for many readers of this blog, certainly. So how does Romney polish this bonifide and get the gunnies into his corner?

Standard thing is to go duck hunting. This hasn't worked for some time. It appeals to Fudds when the candidate pulls it off, but it's not the panacea it might have been a couple decades ago. Plus, it'd look disengenuous. Like Senator Kerry, pretending.

Romney could shoot a coyote threatening his dog while out jogging with his CCW weapon. Or he could go to an IDPA and do a halfway decent job. This would also backfire on him, even if he could arrange it. I don't think he knows how to shoot or is good enough at it to pull off an IDPA demo. He'd end up looking like Dukakis in his tank. And I doubt he has a CCW to even be ready to put down an attacking wild beast.

I guess his best bet is to be honest. Admit that he's not that familiar with guns. Secretly go to a few pistol training sessions to 'get to know better about the issue, plus it's fun'. Let it leak out that he secretly did such a thing. Expound on the issue when questioned about it later with all the right pro-freedom tunes. Gunnies are a cynical lot, but it'd help with a good number of us. Faux self-defense education is better than faux hunting. Instead of faux we need more GOP types to be less Metrocon and more like Cheney and Perry. At least a little bit.

Monday, November 21, 2011

So I've been kinda discombobulated of late and didn't think of Buy Ammo Day until MBtGE reminded me. So I went ahead and planned to go out a day late and bought some rounds. Store closed. Will do it this afternoon or tomorrow. He may be closed on Mondays too.

Same trip as the busted ammo quest, stopped into Home Depot and got a snow shovel. Nothing forecast, but why get stuck in the rush? The old shovel has seen a lotta winters and I don't want to be without if it gives up the ghost.

The NaNoWriMo novel moves along slowly. Blame Bethesda Software. Gonna have to set aside at least a half hour a day. That's not much, and it will instill SOME discipline. I know I won't finish this novel in November, but the story will be done.

The Occupy Flea Baggers think there was no justification for their deportation from Wall Street adjacent private property and the arrests to get them off of said private land. To them, the police restoring a bit of order is illegitimate. The lesson they are learning, when THEY get power and control a police force, and some future Tea Party they won't need to use their Socialist Sturmtruppen to intimidate or attack a peaceful Tea Party type event. They can order their cops to on a trumped up reason even they, the leftist, think is illegitimate. Because they think rule of man is how it works. So they will have no qualms ordering police to tear gas Tea Party types.

This might not work well for the confused leftists. In the eyes of the general public, at a minimum.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

If a Tea Party person had shot at the Whitehouse with an AK47, Janet Napolitano would have declared the movement ALL domestic Terrorists and there would have been a few thousand arrests to root out the 'threat' to the United States. Sarah Palin would still be in Gitmo. No thoughts of a crazed lone gunmen. Guilt by association.

You know it's kinda hard to buy guns in Maryland. The State puts up more roadblocks on top of the ones the Feds have up that everyone is familiar with.

But it's harder to sell a gun.

Let's say you have one revolver too many, and you cull it from the herd. Trot on down to the store you bought it to sell to them? Naw. Quite a number of gunstores won't buy your used gun. Or buy back. Lots have a 'all sales final' clause and once you walk out the door with it, you can't return it to get your money back 5 minutes later.

Which is a decent policy. Otherwise crime guns could be sold or returned to the gunstore, sold to someone else. I can see the reasoning of the dealer.

You can sell your surplus item to a buddy that wants. Yeah, the name's T-Bolt. My friends call me T... only I ain't got not friends.

And if I did, I'd have to drag that friend to a gun dealer, both of us get probulated by forms, NICS checks done, then the pistol is left in the dealer's safe for a month until the friend can come pick it up. Dealer collects a fee for all this.

Under the table sales? Man to man with a handshake to another state resident? Illegal. That revolver I want to sell if kinda rare and Tam wants it? She lives in Indiana and that state has more sane gun laws. I can just trot it up to her the next blogshoot in the Midwest and sell it to her, lickity splickity, right? No, that's illegal, too, is my understanding. The Feds require all sales to be in state or through a dealer. It's Maryland that makes it a no no to really sell it IN state. At least Maryland cares a little less about many long guns. But a handgun is a restricted item. And difficult to sell.

I don't go to pawn shops much, but when I do I rarely see one selling guns in this state.

So how DO you sell them? Well, befriend an FFL til he trusts you and knows you're not a dirtbag and maybe he'll be laxer on the buying of used guns policy. Also. Look for gun dealers with large used gun counters. If the dealer isn't buying guns he might take your gun and put it up on consignement and display it in his case. For a fee. There your prized gatt can linguish for a short or a long time waiting for a new owner to pick YOUR puppy in the window.

It's like the state wants to make it a hassle that no one will bother with. Imagine that.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Probably put in a desk drawer and forgotten about in the Senate. But let's say Harry Reid shows his pro gun colors. And let's say enough Senators on the Dem side up for re-election don't want to run against the rights of the people... and it gets 67 votes to get past a fillabuster... and it passes.

Next step... Obama's desk. Before November. He's THE gun control guy, but he might think this is small ball and let it go and wait for something bigger to veto.

With this amendment, I am boned:
"Congress offered an amendment to the National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act that would allow a resident of a state or jurisdiction that does not allow concealed-carry permits to obtain the permit in another state and then use it in their home state."

I won't be able to carry in DC, Illinois or Maryland. Illinois is fine, why would I want to go there. I could LIVE with DC....

"But, but, but... it says DOES NOT ALLOW, T-Bolt! Maryland allows, just only for the politically connected and such." Yeah yeah, but I wonder how long that word will stick before it is changed to something like 'issued'.

But if it goes through and passes and the President is forced to sign it because of election pressures... I may be set with the Utah CCW permit. And there are dang few restriction in MD for CCW. Bars, drunk, church, schools. Not that I want to carry concealed in a bar at the local high school and drink a beer or 9 there. Because Maryland is a May-Issue-Prolly-Won't they never got around to locking down restricted areas.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

My previous guest blogger never heard of an XD having reliability issues or readily breaking. Like with Glocks the triggers have been know to need service. Pull it, in nothing happens.

Since my buddy got that XD (I, too, had never heard a complaint back then) I've heard it can do something to lock the slide up permanent, and you need to send it back with a round in the chamber for service. Yikes!

What other things? The mad release is easily pushed on an M&P, dumping the mag at imoppurtune times. The sear can wear on an 1911, making it a 7 round machine pistol. I've had a pin break on a 1911. The one that hold the mainspring housing in place. You need that mainspring to work. The screw that hold the yoke to the frame on your revolver can back out and they your cylinder falls out of the gun.

Anything else catastrophically fail, common or not, on a certain pistol type, but not on other types?

That can't be. The number of guns allowed into the District of Columbia post heller has been enough to keep track of on paper without a computer database. The city is still mostly a gun free zone. I'd think they'd have noticed if someone had an actual assault rifle, you know, a MACHINE GUN (select fire, intermediate cartridge, mag fed shoulder arm subject to NFA rules for 77 years), come through the process. So this gun they found probably doesn't really exist. DC might have loosened up some, but not that much, and they still won't let Russian military hardware inside.

Hmmmm... maybe it was a Gunwalker gun, and ATF imported it to the Nation's Capital...

Saturday, November 12, 2011

I am one of ''T-Bolt's'' co-workers and he asked me to guest blog. He has written about me before, but I don't know what nickname he gave me.

Why I chose the XD. I wanted a pistol for some time and TBolt talking about was the push to get me to buy one. At the time I knew I hated the Glock cuz the fanbois I read online were annoying, and everyone was complaining about the Smith and Wesson M and P dropping mags. And I never saw anyone complain about specific malfunctions with the XD in any of my online searches. This was 3 years ago. So XD got it by default this way. Plus TBolt liked the ones he shot and recommended trying it as a rental. I tried it and liked it and bought it.

I thought about a 1911, but they were way expensive. At least among the brands I had heard about. I didn't want to take a chance at a generic 1911. So I got a full size gun in .45 that wasn't a Colt 1911 in the Springfield XD45. When I got it I took it to the range every month or so to shoot it for about a year. I need to go back and practice more. It's a good pistol. I think I'll get a shotgun next for home defense.

Friday, November 11, 2011

[redacted] told me not to use the caps lock. Fine. He says to talk about guns, what little I know. I didn't use guns. Only gun nuts played with guns around here. I guess [redacted] is one of them.

First off. When All In the Family came out, the people down at the Marina where I kept my boat said I reminded them of Archie Bunker. That's where [redacted] got my name.

I do remember some stuff from during the war. I was on an attack transport and my duty station was below decks so I didn't get to see much. I do remember when we were anchored off Leyte after all the fighting was done, I asked somebody what all those trees were doing sticking out of the water. They weren't trees, they were ship's masts. Once I got to the see the before and after of some island that was shelled. It was covered with palm trees. Looked like a tropical paradise. The next moring it looked like the moon with only one tree still standing.

When the Gyrenes went to chow I'd sneak into their berthing spaces and inspect their greaseguns. It fascinated me that something that cheap and made by Guide Lamp could work like that. I was always interested in mechanical devices, and made a bunch of labor saving devices in my time. And I was a body man, so cars also held my attention. Add Guide Lamp to an cheap mechanical thing and you got my attention. Every bunk had a greasegun on it. The Gyrenes were told not to carry them around, so there they stayed. I didn't see any other type of soldiers gun the whole time I was in the war. Just Greaseguns, that I remember. But my ship didn't put to sea until early '45.

We had LCPs stacked on deck to land those Marines. I never saw a lifeboat on board but I knew if the ship sank those landing boats would be where I'd head. When the deck apes were lifting them from the deck to put in the water with booms they were hell on the motor winches. My duty station was at the main electrical panel and the damn deck apes would constantly push the lever to full power, then off. It was my job to turn the rheostat so that when they dropped the electrical load it didn't flip the breaker from the generator and it was some job.

Late in 1945 we got back to Frisco and I went home. I was supposed to head out for the Bikini tests with the ship after the war, but got out of that, Thank God. I'd have died of cancer long ago if I had gone, I'm sure.

[ed: Happy Veterans Day to my fellow vets. Some contributed more than I or even Archie. Extra kudos to those that have.]

Thursday, November 10, 2011

I DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT BLOG MEANS AND YOU WANT ME TO DO IT FOR YOU [redacted]? WHAT DO I KNOW ABOUT GUNS? THIS IS JUST FOOLISHNESS. TMZ IS COMING ON AND I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS. I HAVE TO SEE IF SWEET DRAWS IS GOING TO JAIL. WHATS HER NAME? SHE WON'T SPEND ANY TIME THERE. THE BRIBE CHECK IS IN. THATS HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS. ITS ALL CROOKED. OH, THANKS FOR REMINDING ME. I NEED TO TAKE MY PILLS.

[ed. I've been busy with the stupid novel and am experimenting with guest bloggers to fill in for me. This is the first]

For what it's worth, that gumshoe former Marine I am writing about carries a 1903 Pocket Hammerless in his pocket. It was a gift, and it is his constant companion. When expecting trouble he dons the shoulder holster with his Colt .45. In his desk drawer is a 1917 S&W revolver, and he has a Model 10 stashed in his car, and in his bedside table.

I figured he'd have the Model 10s from his time as a cop, and the other were associated with his service in the Marines, both in WWI and in Nicuragua.

19 chapters outlined. So 2600 words per chapter to get to 50k. It's not working out like I planned. I have a feeling I am writing a novella, and not a novel, and will come up short in the end of month deadline for word count. And I am behind. Only a bit over 10,600 words by the middle of Chapter 6. It'll be a full sized chapter, this one, at least. The long weekend will help. I fell behind because of my brother's wedding last weekend. I will endeavor to persevere.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Men might have easier fashion options for holstered CCW of a real gun than women, but that doesn't mean it's simple-easy.

Finding a way to carry a full size pistol, especially in warm climes, concealed has always been an issue. August carry for men still is t-shirt, hawaiian shirt cover garment, and cargo-type shorts with a belt.

But the other question that vexes is weapon choice. What is the lowest profile full size (in this case, meaning full size caliber, or at least that is what I am going with) gun that you can still shoot well? Sure, there are now mini-9's out like KelTec and Kahr and that new Boburg thing. But, from anecdotal reports, they are a bit hard to shoot well. And if others are having issue with snappy recoil making second shots harder, I know I will. They need more weight, methinks. And weight consideration have never been a priority for me.

What about the Sig I own? That's full size, at .40. When I carry the Sig 229, it's is bulky in the IWB. The grip bangs and hangs on wooden chairs and the like. But it is better than the even larger service size pistols (or actual full size pistol, like you find in a Police holster or with the Military, niether of which worries about concealment.). It was an attempt to solve the problem I, and others, have that didn't quite get there for summer carry fashion. And the newer Sig grips are slightly skinnier, but not enough to write home about, it seems to me.

The same applies to other double stack pistols like Glock/XD/M&P in my situation, even thought they get a bit slimmer than the Sig. I'm talking the compact sizes. I shoulda mentioned that curtailed grip of the sub-compacts is a non-started in my evaluation for the same reason that the mini-9s are. Though sub compact is a way to go. Full size caliber, and a bit better than the mini's for shooting.

The closest I've come to solution, the compromise that answers nearly all conditions, is the Colt Commander. Slightly shrunken length, full size caliber, and with regular grips it's slim, with slim grips it's even slimmer. Which is why I bought it, and them.

It's also why my fantasy gun is a plastic .40 single stack that could be as slim or slimmer than the venerable 1911. Really, I only choose .40 in this fantasy because it allows more size reduction in the grip. And begins with a .4x. But that gun ain't been invented yet.

No worries. I guess I have found that single stack .40, and it has the added benefit of being a .45. And a 1911. And I already own it.

Time to transition to it. The Commander.

[One other thing, had my fantasy single stack been invented and released last week... Do you know how long I'd have to wait for the holsters manufactureres to catch up? At least with a 1911 choice there is a plethora of aftermarket support on the accessories.]

Monday, November 7, 2011

You're a gumshoe, in the depression. You spend your time tracking down husbands that having an affair for the wife's divorce attorney. But sometimes, things get sticky.

What Gatt do you choose?

I ask because I trying to write a pulp detective novel. Just a dash off piece of dreck, not intended for publishing. Just to see if I can type 50,000 words in November. I'm just curious to see if I can do it.

One of the things that got me into actually doing this National Write a Novel Month thing is the fact that I write nigh daily here. Got me in the habit.

I'd also have written a novel long before now, but I've never actually had a plot gel. I get halfway through an narrative's outline and then not know where it was going or how to wrap it up. This one just sorta hit me. I'm decent at details and mood and dialog, to my ears, but the conflict and resolution was always an issue.

I sorta have the details on the protagonist's roscoe, but I like to hear alternates, maybe.

And when this is all done, I'll maybe have a rough draft. Maybe I'll post an excerpt after that has had a rough polish. If it isn't embarassingly bad.

Oh, and because of the novel, I have less time for the blog. Not to worry. I might have some guest bloggers lined up...

Sunday, November 6, 2011

March of 1957 "Is this the next GI rifle" It shows and AR. Answer: well, no. The M14 is coming for a few years first, as the magazine will note in the June 1960 issue. Then 50 years of AR. Unless you meant the AR-10. Which they did. Features I didn't know about... The original magazine was aluminum and never meant to be reloaded. And a backpack with belted ammunition feeding the rifle was considered. Sounds great, in theory. In August of 1961 the magazine was printing the M14 was obsolete before it had really been deployed. Bad scene.

May of 1956 "Can burp guns replace rifles" Answer: no. After 65 years that answer is pretty much settled. Though it tried for a good while. Unless you consider an AR pattern a burp gun. Money quote: "the burp gun symbolizes the most important revolution in military tactics since the invention of the breech loader."

Saturday, November 5, 2011

What a lovely piece of Pulp made into a movie. The camera work and the sets are astounding. Worth watching for that alone. Neat old lab equipment. And in color! 1932 color. Doctor X.

It's about a group of PhD types that are implicated in a series of murder/mutilations that occurred on the full moon. The head of the institution convinces the police to allow him 48 hours to do the investigation to find which of his colleagues may be the dastardly villain. The repair to his estate at an isolated mansion on the shore and use SCIENCE! to try to puzzle it out. Suspense! A bumbling reporter gets in on the act.

Very little gun content, but Fay Wray had a pistol to confront the snoopy reporter with. He even asked if she had a permit for that thing. She said yes. The movie isn't even in the Internet Movie Gun Database, so I'm having a hard time placing it. A little pocket auto. If I had to guess, it was a chrome 1908 Colt Vest Pocket. Or Colt Pocket Hammerless. Except I don't think it had that little dimple under the barrel where a guide rod would be. I only caught a glimpse, but I want to say it was smooth there. I may have to buy the movie now just to see. I like the styling of a typical Browning pistol. The dustcover under the barrel. The aesthetics of a Browning.

Friday, November 4, 2011

I was checking out these grips for the Browning Hi Power. You know, that Hi Power is a relatively handsome gun.

It made me wonder... let's say John Browing lived until he was 101 instead of 71. And let's say he was an active designer for the entire time, in full control of his faculties and just as good as ever the whole time. And ALSO let's assume that HE finished the Hi-Power on his own and it looked pretty much as it does now. Now, one further what-if... What if the US Army said "the 1911 is good, but lets modernize the army pistol and bring it up to 1950 modern standards. Design something new for us."

In 1955 he comes out with his final design submission. What do you think it would look like?

He had the influence to maybe sway NATO to a new round, or to keep the .45ACP.

I wonder how it would look. Externalish extractor like on the 1903 Pocket Hammerless and Hi-Power? How bout an improvement on the staked plunger tube of the 1911? I know it would look good. Elegant. Moreso than the Hi-Power and 1911 that already look functional and elegant. Look at the swooping sides of the Hi Power slide near the fore end. Maybe this fantasy gun would have the .41 caliber I have longed for.

It would be expensive, as even in the 1950s the plastic revolution was far in the future, and machinists and final fitting by experts would almost certainly be required. I'd still pay for that. Could Browning have gone for an alloy frame? Maybe...

That's the thing about what ifs. No way to know what route a gunsmithing genius would have travelled. And what of a John Browning Jr. Designing guns into the 21st Century with the new materials available now. We have inspired gunsmiths nowadays. Gaston Glock is no slouch. But is he in the same league.

Meh, I can wish in one hand and poop in the other and see which fills up first.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Is that because we in America see the Islamist Terrists as an unstoppable horde? I don't know about that. There was more worry about a horde Asian Communists in the late 60s, what with the war in Indochina and the CHICOM human wave tactics in the Korean War still in the collective memory. Now THEY knew how to do Hordes.

Zombies as mindless consumers got their day in the Media portrayal of the Reagan era when consumption took such a spotlight in the economic calculations.

No, I think zombie got the resurgence for other reasons. A few clever send ups in entertainment, with items like Max Brooks' offerings and the Resident Evil franchise building on the earlier Romero offerings getting the ball rolling..

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

"It's like a million Orange Gunsite trainees cried out... and then went silent"

Is it just me, or does it seem that a lot of people are putting their 1911 in the safe and taking up a 9mm S&W M&P.

SaysUncle likes his 9, though I'm not sure if it's an M&P. Caleb likes his M&P. Even TAM might have gone over semi-permanent-like! I thought Tam had 1911 embedded in her DNA. (But I also think Tam goes with what works and doesn't let old habits or sentimentality stand in the way of effective personal defense. I also don't think Tam is about to spit on 1911s and go full fangrrrl for other things. I look forward to a post of hers that goes into this, and respect her enough to take a hard hard look at her reasoning. She has forgotten more stuff about the subject than I will ever know, and hangs out with people that are the same to her.) It all this might have something to do with this guy.

It's like a bunch of Star Wars fans saw what Lucas made of the best scifi franchise EVER with his horrid prequels and then... went out and bought a t-shirt that reads "Joss Whedon Is My Master Now."

Jeff Cooper is dead. The wheel turns. The pendulum swings. And high capacity 9mm pistols are in vogue again. At least among folks I am paying attention to.

What prompted this? Kick ass high quality trainers that like the M&P 9? Ammo cost? The inability to get a decent 1911 in the half a kilobuck range? Flash Mob robberies where a few more than 7 rounds is handy?

Beats me. If it's a bandwagon, I am not hopping on. And if it's not a bandwagon I am not hopping on, either. What I got is fine. I just want to get better with what I got. If arguments that brought M&P 9mm to the fore front can sway me, I'll go with my P229, and figure out a way to CCW it. If they aren't and I can improve myself, I will lean to the 1911 and get comfortable on carrying IT in condition 1.

I should just stick with revolvers exclusively... I still shoot them best and carry one the most. I wonder if THAT bandwagon is ever coming back.

Good Advice

"You never select a shotgun as your primary anti-zombie firearm. It's great for onesy twosey, but zombies travel in hordes. The reload time is onerous, and the ammo, while effective, is heavy and bulky and short ranged."

Big Mistake for Her

If Ginsberg had let Scalia put the words "strict scrutiny" in Heller and Hillary said "Gun control is just not going to be a priority for my administration," Hillary would have been elected President.

About Me

Preamble

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.